I have two Labs, both in the 80 lbs range. They both sit or lay in the backseat of our Jeep with no issue. I have thought about getting the leashes with the seatbelt attachment, but we often take them on long car trips and it would inable them from repositioning to find a comfortable spot. I do think people who drive with their dogs on their lap, should get a ticket and that cats shouldn’t be trasported without a carrier. But if the dog stays in the backseat without a problem, I don’t think the driver should be punished for taking their pup for a ride.

To all of you who think this type of law would be “RIDICULOUS”, try thinking about your own mother being ejected from a vehicle while driving from Florida on I-95 to visit you for Thanksgiving and being air lifted instead to a trauma center and being in a medically induced coma and not coming home for 3 months (oh and by the way, the hospital is in Savannah), she lives in Florida, you live here in the Albany area…ALL BECAUSE A COUSIN’S (DRIVER) HYPER PERSONALITY DOG WENT OVER TO THE DRIVER’S LAP AND THEREFORE LIFTED ONE HAND OFF OF THE STEERING WHEEL MAKING THIS DRIVER LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. There were 3 dogs in that vehicle, 2 of which were my mother’s, but well behaved and in the back seat with her. The point is common sense, if they must be in vehicles, RESTRAIN THEM, LIKE WE DO OURSELVES, LIKE WE DO OUR CHILDREN. My mother will never be the same. She was vibrant, very active, on the go, at 64. Doctors told her she shouldn’t be alive, while the quality of her life has diminished immensely. I don’t care with what law they create it, but it sure does NEED to be done.

Just another law that would be nearly impossible to enforce, except during a routine stop and then looking at the dog or other large critter in question (or multiple small critters, as the aforementioned example shows). Just add this as another offense under “distracted driving law”, or if it’s a real nightmare, make it a part of current “reckless driving” laws. Just cover this – it’s the act, like texting while driving, that a person who isn’t “prudent” would do. No need for a new law, just cover it as an illustrative example in the current statute.

Just remember that in a frontal crash, an unrestrained 50 lb dog, person, or object in the back seat will slam into the back of the front seat hard enough to kill the driver or front seat passenger. Medical personnel call this the “back-seat bullet.”

Asinine. That is what the whole discussion is, let alone an idiotic law. People will do stupid things, law or no law. For everyone who declares in smug self satisfaction “put them in a crate, end of story”,,etc,etc. I suggest an immediate operation to remove the upper most part of your body from the rear middle area of your body. There are plenty of good reasons to not have a dog in a crate. There are plenty of good reasons to have a dog in a crate. The world does not need every single thing under the sun regulated and made into laws. For those who read this and sputter,,but,,but,, projectiles! Guess what rocket scientist? If the crate is not bolted to the floor, voila, massive metal projectile with extra weight in it. The gallon of milk and watermelon you just bought at the store and threw in the back seat? Projectile!!! OMG outlaw watermelon and milk,, IMMEDIATELY!!! SOMEONE COULD BE KILLED… RUUUUUN. Seriously people get over yourselves and this incredibly disturbing trend in today’s culture to not only have a nanny state but the nanny is an armed and sadistic dominatrix. It would be great if we could make having common sense a law, alas we can not and common sense is far from common. There are good and valid reasons for both restraint and lack there of, for a number reasons. I personally can make a great case for both. My family being heavily involved in showing and breeding dogs for decades. There was a family who crashed in there motor home on the way to a show back in the 80’s with ten dogs in crates. All of the people and dogs survived. However there was a gas leak and the twisted wreck made it difficult to get the dogs out. They got one out before the fire, the rest burned to death as they listened to them scream. About thirteen years ago a family friend was in an accident, not horrible but destructive. It popped the back of their station wagon open and their two terrified dogs got out. One was recovered the other (terrified from the crash) ran into traffic and was horrifyingly killed in front of them and their 7 yo daughter. Both families have heart wrenching and to them incredibly valid reasons for both crating and freedom. The point is life happens and so does stupid. You can not regulate and outlaw them away.

There are laws already in place about kids under a certain age/weight being belted in. I witness that law being broken on a daily basis. An unbelted/unrestrained 35-40 pound child is just as much of a projectile as an unrestrained dog.

Let people make the choice for themselves – sometimes the choice is made on a case by case basis and is different each time. The government already tells us too much about how we should live our lives with some of the ridiculous laws out there – laws which are completely out of hand!!!